Lanzallamas Monofónica

Making up words is fun, but it rarely yields anything worth keeping (unless you count Peter Griffin's festizio). Lanzallamas Monofónica is an exception. The band name isn't entirely fabricated: If you know Spanish, you know lanzallamas to be flamethrowers. Meanwhile, monofónica refers to single-channel recording. Though the band most definitely does not limit itself to one channel, the name is dead-on, even if it comprises two otherwise mismatched words.

Details

One listen to their music and you know exactly why they put the two terms together. Lighting up dance floors at festivals and haunts around the city, this group prides itself on delivering what it calls "Afro-Latin-America-world-beat-dance-mezcla." Another made-up word! Multi-instrumentalist Fabi Patino, vocalist Cintia Lovo, percussionist Kenneth Metzker, bassist Diogo Brown, violinist Allison Irvine, pianist Camilo Sierra, and drummer Ivan Palma have concocted the perfect blend. They take the aforementioned styles, along with many more, and synthesize them into a cohesive, all-inclusive blend. In one set, you might hear singing in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and even Serbian. And none of it sounds out of place in this auditory equivalent of a Benetton ad.